April League Lookout - LWVNAZ News/Events Northern Arizona and Greater Verde Valley
| LWVNAZ Members and Supporters:
We have changed our newsletter to a quarterly format covering events for the next few months, supplementing this with periodic emails on specific events. We are providing information that the League is sponsoring as well as information about events that you might find of interest. Feel free to share this information with anyone you think would benefit from this information!
To get information about other league activities, see our website.
| Message from the Board
Hello fellow Leaguers,
Happy Spring!
In February, the Arizona League Legislative Week had a number of good online lunch and learn sessions and the in-person Lobby Day was very informative with speakers from All Voting is Local, Save our Schools, two representatives from the Governor's office, and the Speaker of the House.
The League will be collecting signatures to get the Save Our Schools citizen's initiative, the Protect Education Act, on the ballot to provide some accountability for the voucher program. Check out https://protectedaz.com for more information.
We will be continuing our voter registration efforts throughout the summer with some new locations and will be hosting candidate forums for contested local elections.
We are very pleased to have Barbara McQuade at our online Voter Education project on May 14th to discuss the dangers of mis and dis-information. See the information below and register to attend.
In League,
Kathy Henry
| Annual Meeting
May 15, 10 am - 1 pm
Cottonwood Recreation Center
We want to invite our members to our annual meeting to be held on May 15th from 10-1 at the Cottonwood Recreation Center. You will have the chance to catch up with other members, hear from Save Our Schools, and sign petitions. You will also meet young voters from Mingus High School and Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy who are doing their own voter registration drives and participating in our Young Voters Engagement Project. There will be a short business meeting where you will be able to vote on board members and the annual budget. | | On Feb 9 about 50 people attended a presentation by the Secretary of State discussing voter suppression efforts in Arizona and how we can fight against them. He talked about the initiative he is proposing that will solidify voter rights in Arizona. | | | |
Saboteurs at the Ballot Box: Impact of Mis- and Disinformation on Elections
Online presentation in partnership with OLLI
Thursday, May 14, 2026
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
| | | Concerned about election security and impact of mis-and disinformation on elections?
League of Women Voters Northern AZ has Barbara McQuade, University of Michigan Law School; national security and data privacy expert, legal analyst NBC News/MSNow; and author Attack From Within: How Disinformation Is Sabotaging America (2024) as our guest speaker to discuss this timely issue of mis- and disinformation on elections.
We will also be joined by an engaging response panel featuring County Recorders Aubrey Sonderegger (Coconino), Michelle Burchill (Yavapai), Gina Roberts (AZ Clean Elections Commission) and young voters.
This program is being offered in partnership with OLLI Sedona-Verde Valley. Registration for the May 14 program is OPEN!
Register at:https://www.campusce.net/sedonaverdeolli/course/course.aspx?C=17446&pc=2640&mc=0&sc=0
The program is free to the public. |
Mark Your Calendar for Important LWVNAZ Virtual Town Hall
Thursday, June 11, 2026 from 4:00 - 6:00 PM on Zoom Webinar
Focused dialogue to explore What We Can Do to Address Voter Suppression Efforts,
more information to come
| |
Make Your Voice Count!
Join the Board of Directors of the League of Women Voters of Northern Arizona. Serving on our board is your opportunity to bring fresh ideas, new perspectives, make a tangible impact and help defend democracy.
Be part of our nonpartisan, activist, grassroots organization → Contact Robyn at lwvnaz@gmail.com | | | | VOTER REGISTRATION
GET READY FOR 2026 – IMPORTANT DATES AND DEADLINES
State Primary Election – July 21, 2026 (including many local elections)
Voter Registration Deadline –
July 2026
General Election – November 3, 2026 (including State Offices and All Congressional Districts)
Voter Registration Deadline – October 5, 2026 | | |
The Voter Registration Team has been busy organizing and conducting voter registration drives in advance of the 2026 Primary and General Elections. Volunteers have set up monthly voter registration tables throughout the Verde Valley and Flagstaff.
LWVNAZ Voter Registration Team Prepares for Elections 2026
LWVNAZ Voter Registration Team continues monthly voter registration activities in preparation for the 2026 mid-term elections. The team is organized by communities and schedules regular tabling events at libraries, farmers’ markets, schools, Yavapai College, senior centers, and selected churches and retail stores.
If you are interested in contributing to this effort, please contact the team leader in your respective community or email Gail Digate for more information (ggdigate@gmail.com).
Camp Verde
Kathy Davis (kdavis1247@gmail.com) or Kathy Henry (kshenry56@gmail.com)
Clarkdale
Janet Kissinger (janetkissinger@gmail.com)
Cottonwood/Jerome
Babe Gerstner (babegerstner@yahoo.com)
Flagstaff
Mary Grove (mfgrove@hotmail.com) or Sue Strobel (strobelsue@gmail.com)
Sedona
Nancy Ruby (nancyruby@gmail.com)
Village of Oak Creek
Rose O’Donnell (odonnellrose@yahoo.com) or Maryann Kenney (mckenney007@gmail.com)
Yavapai College and High Schools/Churches
Gail Digate (ggdigate@gmail.com)
The LWVNAZ Voter Registration Team has scheduled meetings for the year as follows:
Thursday, April 30, 2026 (10:00 AM – 12:00 Noon) In Person - Salt Mine Wine - Camp Verde - This is a very important meeting to finalize voter registration schedule for April - June in preparation for Primary Election (July 21). Last day to register to vote in Primary Election is June 22.
Additional VR Meetings:
Thursday, June 25, 2026 (10:00 – 11:00 AM) Zoom
September 24, 2026 (10:00 – 11:00 AM) Zoom
December 3, 2026 (10:00 AM – 12:00 Noon) In Person - Location TBA
Important Dates
STATE PRIMARY ELECTION*
Voter Registration Deadline: July 26
Early Voting Begins: July 8
Request Ballot by Mail Deadline: July 2
Primary Election – July 21, 2026 (including many local elections)
GENERAL ELECTION
Voter Registration Deadline: October 5
Early Voting Begins: October 7
Request Ballot by Mail Deadline: October 23
General Election: November 3
| Primary Election Season Underway!
call for help with LWVNAZ forums
March 23, 2026 was the deadline for candidates to submit their nomination papers to run for an elected office in the Primary Election to be held on July 21, 2026.
All 5 municipalities in the Verde Valley have mayor and/or council elections. Flagstaff will have their municipal races in November. The League of Women Voters of Northern Arizona will be hosting candidate forums for municipal races that are contested.
Forums will be held during the month of June before early ballots are sent out on June 24.
We are looking for members interested in being a part of the LWV Candidate Forum Team! We need:
- site organizers
- moderators
- timekeepers
- question coordinator
- forum helpers
No experience needed – we will train you! If interested – contact us at lwvnaz@gmail.com | | March 12 Arizona Civic Learning Day at Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza Arizona State Capitol in collaboration with Arizona Civics Coalition. | | No Kings Cottonwood - March 28 | | No Kings Sedona - March 28 | | | | We were busy tabling at the various No Kings rallies in the Valley. We spoke to a man who is a felon, gave him info on restoring his vote. Two unregistered teens came by. Another couple who had recently moved here had questions on voting in Yavapai county. Most took cards to update/check their registration. Many folks expressed concerns about safety at the polls. Multiple local League members stopped by as well as members from Leagues in other states. | We encourage a group of members to collaborate on a series of questions and to ask non-league friends, family, and neighbors for input on what they see as the state's critical issues within the legislature's purview. We want to make sure our questions reflect issues that matter to a wide range of Arizonans.
|
The Political Book Club meets at 3:00 pm MST on the last Monday of the month with the exception of December.
To kick off the 2026 year of reading, we had a small but enthusiastic group to discuss Alexei Navalny’s moving and tragic posthumous book, Patriot, A Memoir.
Future titles are the following:
Mar and Apr - We the People by Jill Lepore
May - How to Stand Up to a Dictator by Maria Ressa
Jun - Separation of Church and State by John Fugelsang
Jul - An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States by Shaun Taylor-Corbett, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, et al.
Aug - One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad
Sep - Gen Z 360 by Hana Ben-Shabat
Oct - A Different Kind of Power by Jacinda Ardern
Nov - Paper Girl by Beth Macy
Jan 2027 - The Haves and Have-Yachts by Evan Osnos
The only requirement to join us is to have read the book. We are still meeting via Zoom. If you would like to join the group, contact ann.holland99@gmail.com to obtain the Zoom link for the meeting.
| LWVNAZ MEMBERS REACH OUT TO GEN Z
A strategic priority of LWVAZ for the next several years is reaching out and engaging young voters in the work of the League of Women Voters.
We recognize that a critical component of successfully reaching out to and engaging young voters is the development of positive and mutually beneficial relationships between mentors and students.
As “experienced” voters, we have much to share with young people as they, in turn, help us gain new knowledge and insights into what is important to their generation. Undoubtedly, the act of listening to each other is integral to the success of this important League initiative.
Entitled LWVNAZ Young Voters Engagement Project, students participating in the project at Mingus Union High School (Cottonwood) and Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy completed voter registration training and are preparing to lead campus wide voter registration drives at their respective schools during April.
Students also are learning about how to use and contribute to Vote 411 and strategies for preparing for local candidate forums.
LWVNAZ received a grant in the amount of $1000 from LWVUS to support this project to reach out to and engage young voters. The project is a partnership with Rural Organizing Initiative (Rural Voices, Rural Voters). Local league members serving as mentors to young voters include Robyn Prud’homme Bauer, Gail A. Digate, Angela LeFevre, Lani Nallira-Frahm, Francesca Martin, Rose O’Donnell, and Llama Habern (ROI).
If you are interested in learning more about serving as a mentor to young voters in 2026-2027 school year, please contact Robyn Prud’homme Bauer (rcpbauer@gmail.com) or Gail A. Digate (ggdigate@gmail.com).
| League of Women Voters of Northwest Maricopa County
Saturday, April 18th, 9:30am - 10:45pm
Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 17540 N Avenue of the Arts, Surprise, AZ 85378.
Jonathan Perloe will speak about the "One Person One Vote/National Popular Vote Interstate Compact"
Mr. Perloe is a champion of democracy and voting reform, including the National Popular Vote compact and ranked-choice voting, essential tools for ensuring every American's voice is equally represented at the ballot box. Refreshments and light brunch will be served. This is an excellent opportunity to learn more about this issue and join our LWVAZ One Person One Vote issue team. | The MODL (Mechanics of Democracy Lab) team and Bill Gates, Executive Director of ASU’s Mechanics of Democracy Laboratory, invite you to the upcoming What Makes a Great Election in Arizona - Flagstaff on April 17th, 2026 in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Event Details:
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What: In partnership with Northern Arizona University, Center for the Future of Arizona (CFA), Democracy Defense Project (DDP) and Vitalyst, the Mechanics of Democracy Laboratory will be hosting its final convening in their “What Makes a Great Election?” convening series in Flagstaff, Arizona. The convening will shift focus to explore solutions to election challenges, how to build and establish common sense reforms, and bring together stakeholders to review survey findings and define criteria to answer the question of what makes an election excellent ahead of the 2026 election cycle. Hear from state policymakers, elections officials, academics, and other experts during this day-long discussion.
If you are interested in attending, please use this link to register.
Note: If you intend to attend, please use the link to register and fill out the form to have your RSVP accounted for. We will be closing registration on April 13, 2026.
If you have any dietary restrictions or food accommodation requests, please let us know.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Sydney Panas or Lilia Dashevsky. Otherwise, we look forward to welcoming you to the Arizona sunshine this April! | | Suffs on PBS
Suffs is a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical by Shaina Taub that tells the story of the American women's suffrage movement, focusing on the final, more radical years leading up to the 19th Amendment. The show explores the internal conflicts, generational divides, and racial tensions within the movement, highlighting the strategic and often disruptive tactics used by suffragists to win the right to vote.
In case you missed the live presentation at ASU Gammage, you have another opportunity to see it on PBS on May 8th at 8 p.m. | | | |